Jaguars create new category of premium poolside seating

June 9, 2014

Welcome to the NFL, Vegas style. The Jacksonville Jaguars are rolling out the league’s first party cabanas this season at EverBank Field.

As part of a $63 million stadium renovation, the Jaguars have developed 20 cabanas, replacing hundreds of regular seats, some of which had been covered by tarps, in the north end zone. They are marketing them as group spaces for both season tickets and single-game buys.

The cabanas are tented spaces, split into eight 50-person units and a dozen 20-person spaces. Each cabana has a lounge area, cushioned furniture, ceiling fans and multiple TVs with programming including the NFL RedZone channel.

The larger Spa Cabanas are tied to the two swimming pools that the Jaguars announced last year as part of the stadium upgrades, and that they have since branded as the Smart Pharmacy Spas. Those patrons buying Spa Cabanas get exclusive access to the pools and have private changing rooms, said Chad Johnson, the Jaguars’ senior vice president of sales.

The Spa Cabanas and Terrace Cabanas will sit in the north end zone of EverBank Field.Photo by: COURTESY OF JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

The smaller, Terrace Cabanas sit one level above, overlooking the pool, but those individuals do not have access to the water, Johnson said. Spa Cabana buyers are identified by wristbands they wear when entering and exiting the pools, Johnson said. The cost to buy a Spa Cabana is $12,500 a game, which comes to $250 a person. The price covers game tickets and food and drink, including beer and wine but no hard liquor.

Terrace Cabanas cost $3,000 a game, an average of $150 a person. The same food and drink package applies to those spaces. As of last week, the Jaguars had sold 65 percent of all cabanas between season-ticket and single-game sales, Johnson said. The 50-person units alone are 50 percent sold for the season.

Elsewhere in the stadium, the Jaguars are installing 38 four-seat tables between the 30-yard lines on both sides of the stadium. It’s the same 4Topps product that MLB teams have installed as retrofits in their parks. In Jacksonville, the tables sit at the top of the lower bowl on walkways separating two club levels. To date, the Jaguars have sold 22 of the 38 tables. The price is $13,500 as a season-ticket package.

Another new product is the 180 new field-level seats, split equally in the northeast and southeast corners of the field, on the visitor’s side. As a season ticket, those individual seats cost $375 a game, the same price as a single seat among the four-seat tables. The four-seat tables and field seats also cover the cost to buy food and drink through loaded tickets scanned at concession stands on the club levels. Hard liquor is a separate fee, Johnson said.

The opportunity to create new premium seat inventory in underperforming spaces drove the new seating projects, Johnson said.

“For us, it gives our stadium some character,” he said. “We’re at a place in Florida where water plays an important part and these additions help the stadium take on a new personality.”